If you’ve ever wondered how much anyone can do in a lifetime then take a look at William Carey.
Born in Northamptonshire in 1761, the young Carey soon showed extraordinary linguistic ability. Leaving school at 14 he became a cobbler, but as he worked on shoes he studied new languages. He came to faith in Christ in his teens and, at the age of 20, married Dorothy.
In 1783 Carey was appointed a local schoolmaster. His mind, however, was increasingly focused on more distant horizons; he researched all he could to find out about the world and the extent of Christianity, praying over the vast areas where the gospel had not been preached.
In 1792 Carey printed a pamphlet entitled An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens, arguing that Jesus’ Great Commission of Matthew 28:16-20 was still binding on the church. Shortly afterwards he preached a sermon to Baptist leaders, out of which came a phrase that was to be permanently associated with him: ‘Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.’ The result was the creation of what was to become the Baptist Missionary Society and it was soon agreed that he personally should go to India. In 1793 Carey, with a pregnant wife and four children, set sail on a journey that was to take five months. For the first few years in India they faced not just poverty and ill-health but the hostility of the British colonial authorities to missionary activity. Finally, Carey got a job managing a dye plant that allowed him to continue translating the Bible into the Bengali language.
Eventually, after seven years of struggle, matters began to improve. There was the first trickle of converts and, after relocating to a Danish colony at Serampore, now part of greater Calcutta (Kolkata), Carey was able to set up the printing press from which came the first Scriptures and textbooks in local languages. Two missionaries, Joshua Marshman and William Ward, also arrived and, with Carey, formed a powerful team that endured for decades. In 1801 the British authorities recognised Carey’s extraordinary ability by offering him a position teaching Bengali at a college for British civil servants. This position allowed Carey to translate the Bible into other Indian languages.
Setbacks, however, continued. Dorothy Carey died in 1807. (Carey was to suffer the loss of his second wife and to remarry a third time.) There were countless illnesses, the deaths of colleagues and children and a fire that destroyed years of work. Yet as time passed, the achievements of Carey and his co-workers accumulated. Between 1801 and 1832 his Serampore Press printed 212,000 copies of books in 40 different languages. Forty-five free schools catering for thousands of pupils of every social class were created, and in 1818 Serampore College was founded to train pastors but also to provide education to anyone ‘regardless of caste, colour or country’. It was to become the first institution in Asia to grant degrees.
Carey spent his final years quietly revising his Bengali Bible, preaching and teaching. He died in India in 1834, aged 72.
How much can anyone do in a lifetime? Carey sets a very high benchmark. He mastered numerous Indian languages, translating the Bible into Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Marathi, Hindi and Sanskrit. In his lifetime, his mission printed and distributed all, or parts, of the Bible in over 40 languages and dialects. He pressured the British authorities for wide-ranging social reforms including outlawing widow burning and child sacrifice, and he worked constantly to undermine the caste system. He protected lepers, introduced savings banks to fight crippling interest rates for borrowers, and encouraged education in every form and for everybody, including women, lower-caste individuals and the poor. Somehow he found time to study and write extensively on Indian botany and set up the Agricultural Society of India with a view to improving India’s farming system. Carey’s achievements are even more remarkable precisely because he was a pioneer: he followed in no one’s footsteps.
In considering all that Carey did over four decades in India I’m struck by how he lived out in different ways the three great Christian values of faith, hope and love.
Carey’s faith had determination. He saw the world’s need to hear the gospel and committed himself to it. In India he pushed on through discouragements, difficulties and disasters. When asked about his achievements Carey said that he was a plodder: ‘I can plod. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.’ I think we could do with a few more plodders today!
Carey’s hope was seen in his expectation. Theologically, Carey was an optimist and held the view that God’s will was that the kingdom of God would ultimately expand across the world. As such Carey saw his role not simply in seeing short-term effects but in laying the foundations of a glorious church in Asia. In our time, such confidence and long-term vision are much needed.
Carey’s love was displayed in his compassion. Carey loved India and his passion for social reform was driven by his desire for men and women to find the freedom that there is in Christ. That compassion was seen in a desire to understand Indian culture. Although Carey never drifted from his belief in Christ as the only saviour of humankind, he engaged deeply with Indian culture, translating many of the Hindu epics into English. Carey’s work is a reminder that all we do must be done in love.
‘Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God’ was the motto Carey gave to history. Carey did both and in doing so became a man who achieved great things for God. May we also ‘expect great things from God’ and ‘attempt great things for God’.
J.John
Reverend Canon
